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Quick question since I can't seem to locate an answer to this or anything remotely similar, beyond the usual reference to the Regional Cup document (sorry if I missed one that did answer this query)...
What players can the rookie models stand-in for? Their regular version, their veteran version, either, neither?
This is effectively in regards to Fangtooth and Chisel, since none of the other rookies has a veteran card (planned) yet, but I figure it could eventually become relevant too...

Hello again sports fans!
Today I'm going to talk about one of my other favorite Mason models, and a source of great contention: Chisel.
The main point of contention is: Chisel is bad at what she does. But the real question is: What is Chisel supposed to do? The easy answer is that she's supposed to do damage, because she has Crazy and Painful Rage, two abilities that make it seem like her core role is to get up as high as possible in her playbook for big damage numbers. And yes, like many Masons, Chisel has bigger numbers later in her play book, made stronger with the potential combo of Tooled Up and Painful Rage.
But it takes a lot of resources and timing to make Chisel decent at doing damage, so in this light, she's a bad player who just doesn't have the damage output to effort balance that other Masons do.
And so, you're right: Chisel is a bad damage dealer (or at the least, is' the same as other Masons at doing higher level damage).
But what if Chisel isn't meant to be a damage dealer? What if Crazy and Painful rage are merely tools to help Chisel do her real job, instead of indicators that she's pretending to be Cosette?
For me, Chisel is the Mason Ball Retriever.
Ball Retrieval: Masons have a strong scoring game, but once you score, how do you get the ball back? The Majority of our players have 1" melee, and those that have 2" melee are rather slow and not an easy to reach Tackle (Brick and Mallet). But then there's Chisel. She has a 2" melee and a momentous Tackle on 2 successes, arguably the best option for getting the ball back in the Guild. She's also SPD 6/8", so she can get to where she needs to go to threaten the ball, or take it away.
But lets take a look at our typical strikers and ball holders? They usually have high defense, hang around near Cover, and in the case of Brisket and Flint, have Charmed to boost their defense. They also tend to hide behind the rest of their team, so getting to them can be quite the trick, especially because of crowd outs.
This is where Crazy comes in. With it, Chisel becomes TAC 7, and with her Tackle on 2, has a much greater option of being able to ustilize the dodges in her playbook to get to the ball holder, strip the ball from them, and kick it away to an available team mate, or out into the open away from the opposing team.
In my experience, if Chisel is near the person with the ball, she can get it. Unpredictable, High Def, Gender based DEF boost, crowd outs...Chisel can get around it all. The only thing she can't ignore is Close Control, but she can trigger it easily enough for her follow up attack, or for a Parting Blow.
Survivability: Generally the Masons lean on their ARM stat to take the hits, but Chisel is in the camp of the 1 ARM Masons, and with 13 health, is in danger of being taken out easily, especially if you're using crazy. But if used right, Chisel can be rather hard to remove from the field. Sadism lets her heal each time an enemy model in 4" takes damage, even if a different model on your team is doing the attacking. Assuming you give Chisel 4 influence, she can go Crazy, activate Sadism, hit an opposing player three times (looking for her 2-4 columns of options), allowing her to dodge, generate momentum, and heal. After your attacks, she's healed up her Crazy Damage, possibly put Feel My Pain out, and likely dodged to a better position, as well as having generated 3 momentum. If she had taken damage before, she can still Take A Breather to get her health back up 4pts. Feel My pain also triggers off parting blows, so if you're engaged by models that can only damage you (Fish), you can cake a parting blow from a player, damage them, and heal up from Sadism on her way to chasing the ball.
Annoyance: Chisel can be very annoying, from her 2" melee, to her dodges on her playbook, and most importantly, because of Feel My Pain. With FMP in place on a model engaging Chisel, they suffer damage every time they attack Chisel, which heals her if you have Sadism up. No matter what option they choose, Chisel gets healed and they take damage. Say they decide not to attack her, and walk away? Chisel doesn't have a knock down, but she can still do damage on the parting blow, which heals her, and denying someone the charge with her melee range is always a good option. So with set up, Chisel can just be frustration to remove from the field, leaving your opponents choosing a different model to focus on instead of lesser returns against Chisel.
BUT WHAT ABOUT PAINFUL RAGE?!?
It's a trap!
Well, it's not a trap, but what it does is allow Chisel to start her healing shenanigans without having to worry about using Crazy to up her TAC to reasonable levels. If Chisel has taken a fair amount of damage and is below 6, her TAC goes up to 6, which makes hitting the first two columns of her playbook easier to access. This allows her to Tackle, to dodge, and to dodge/damage, allowing her to re-position out of harms way, to heal herself with momentum, or to even trigger Sadism if she wants. Does it also allow her to do more damage? certainly, but I see that as a guard against being engaged by a Tough Hide model when she's low on health, so she can still trigger Sadism and get her self heal up and running. It also allows you a better chance at a counter attack being successful if she's attacked before she activates, and gets damaged to below Painful Rage levels.
So, to summarize: Chisel is the Masons answer to "how to get the ball", and can absorb a lot of damage and heal it up with her built in healing tech while she harasses strikers. Pick your targets wisely, don't throw Chisel into a scrum unsupported expecting her to kill everyone, and let Chisel chase the ball like she's built to do.
Thanks for reading!

Now that SteamCon has past and been, I have recently changed my league team from the Masons Kick Off 6 to the following;
Hammer, Marbles, Brick, Flint, Mallet and Tower.
Only played two games with this team. Lost the testing game against Morts 12-11 (best match I ever had tbh) and lost the first league game with this team 12-4 against Blacksmiths.
Is there any hints and tips that a new hammer user could learn and even apply in future games?

Hi Everyone
I'm trying to get Chisel to work and I don't want this to devolve into a 'there are better options' etc. argument because I really need to start learning the niche Mason's models I never play.
I've noticed that Chisel can't really afford to be a winger because some random beater will come back on the pitch and charge/take her out first activation.
I have had some success with her providing crowding outs, threatening long range tackles against strikers who are on my side of the board and converting influence into momentum if my captain got taken out.
Also, anyone who's played with or against Corsair knows how deadly those 2 inch models that do nothing but provide crowd-outs are. Mallet's awful movement stats means Chisel is marginally better at providing 0 influence crowd-outs on demand.
If I can position her so she isn't the weak link in a take-out game then she'll be good enough for me in some games.
Where should I be positioning her? Should she be behind Brick, within 3.5 inches of him so his counter charge is protecting her or on the other side of the pitch from most models, annoying strikers?
Also, how often do people actually use crazy? I've only been using it to help tackle the ball off strikers as using it to deal damage often backfires. Is it viable to do some weird dragon-ball-z power-up with her in the backfield and then get a take-out in turn 4 after your captain and midfielders have created space for her?

Granite's trait Between a Rock and... states:
Once per turn, when an other friendly model within this aura suffers damage from an enemy Attack or Play, after the Attack or Play is resolved, this model may make a Jog.
When is a play considered to be resolved? For example, some sustained character plays such as Minefield and Feel My Pain deal damage after they are first used and their effects don't end until the end of turn. When, if ever, do these plays trigger Between a Rock?
Legendary Plays, such as Chemical Shower and Exsanguinate, last until the end of turn (afaik only Rigor Mortis doesn't). Are these ever resolved for the purpose of Between a Rock?
Similarly, heroic plays such as Stave's Explosive Barrel, last all turn. Is the damage from Explosive Barrel, which resolved previously, or Lob Barrel which just resolved?
The Forceful Blow trait deals 3 damage on the charge. In an Honor vs Hammer match, Honor's Mallet charges Hammer's Brick selecting 1 damage, which is prevented by Tough Hide but triggers Forceful Blow. Does this trigger Hammer's Granite's Between a Rock?

Hey all,
In an Obulus or Scalpel line up how do you deal with the Mason Missile, and what would be your preferred line up to tackle it? I've been on the receiving end of it once, and have been thinking about various ways around the play but it seems like a tricky nut to crack.

Edit: I changed the title from the Mallet Skywalker theory to the Tower Skywalker theory for obvious reasons.
I'm a bit slow, but I just learned that Tower's father was a previous Mason guild ball captain. Apparently Chisel has watched many guild ball matches but has little natural talent. I'm speculating that Chisel and Tower are brother and sister. Below are relevant quotes from the fluff that describe Tower's dead father and Chisel's relationship to Tower and (indirectly) Tower's father.
-----------------------------------------------------------
In Tower's fluff blurb in Season 1
"It was unlike any goalpost a Guild Ball pitch had ever seen and at last he considered it ready to be showcased in tomorrow’s match. Pausing to give thanks to his (Tower) father for passing down the plans for his great design,..."
The mysterious Mason schemer's in Tower's fluff blurb in Season 1
"‘You see his skill, the dedication to our craft.’ It was not a question. That much had never been in doubt. Had his father not died, we would have had a Tower in our ranks long ago"
Mallet to Tower after winning the final of the Frontier's Cup
"Well done, lad. You would’ve made your father proud today"
" I can see something of the Old Man in you. He was before your time, but he was a fine captain, just like Honour."
Greyscales talking about Chisel in her fluff blurb
"I think she’s sweet on Tower, too, but an old man like me might have that totally wrong."
"She never had the natural skills or ability of Flint, Friday or Vitriol mind you."
"I can tell she grew up watching the Old Man and his lads from the lovely little touches she adds to her plays and movements."
Both Mallet and Greyscales reference "the Old Man" as a proper noun, but the use of lower case "old man" is common in the fluff. For instance, it's used by Flint to refer to his own father, by Harmony when referring to Mallet and by Mallet to refer to Greyscales.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I am waiting for when Tower becomes captain in season 5 and faces Obulous on the pitch. The Mason's are losing horrifically and Tower is terribly injured somehow.
Obulous standing over him: "Join me, and I will complete your training "
Tower: "I'll never join you!"
Obuolus: "If only you knew the power of the Morticians. Mallet never told you what happened to the Old Man."
Tower: "He told me enough! He told me you killed him!"
Obulous: "No, I am your father."
------------------------------------------------------------
Anyone else have any unhinged fluff speculation?

Good Morning, Guild Ballers.
I got Brick and Chisel for Christmas, giving me a full roster for Masons - Incredibly happy as now I have options.
Sorry, Harmony. It's not me, it's you.
So, as I'm a bit rusty and haven't played with my Masons since September: How best to implement my shiny new players?
I found I had occasional luck with Tower, and his Shut Out is pretty decent. I might be sad to see him go, but Chisel and Brick just feel like they open up so many more options. I tend to play quite conservatively (I'm a coward, ok?!) but Chisel looks effing brutal. I can see her and Mallet causing a few head aches.
I tend to be quite fortunate with Marbles too - I'm wondering if getting him within Brick's Counter Charge range could be a thing? People tend to go for Marbles because his Goad trait can really ruin their plans, but if Brick is ready to stomp some heads...?
Chisel has that +3 tac per activation (if she takes 3 damage?) - Superior Strategy her, and get two attempts at a savage beat down?!
Am I missing anything ridiculously obvious?!
So yes, to recap - Out of practice, two new players - Pls Halp.

So I've got limited experience with the masons at the moment and I'd like to run this team.. Honour, marbles, Flint, mist, chisel and??? I like the double threat and striking capabilities of having both Flint and mist, I think harmony is bad and I'm not really a big fan of brick (could be wrong) so it leaves mallet and he seems to make the most sense. Anyone run this setup or found a good synergy for chisel.

Obviously we already have Chisel and we have seen artwork for our new Captain (do we know a name?). But have we heard anything about our veteran player or our new mascot yet? Or should baseless speculation begin Harmony seems the likely Veteran player given Mallet already is and I'm not sure Flint can get any better. I suppose Tower or Brick could but Harmony seems the most likely in my mind and plot/story wise. New mascot...Would have to be good to beat the Monkey! A Pangolin or Armadillo could be fun (thinking of armoured built like brick out house type animals) although no idea what rules you would give it. Marbles...man you are pretty good. So am I missing anything that has been announced? What other baseless speculation do people have?